• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권10호
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• pp.3815-3821
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• 2023

Dosimetric studies in Nuclear Medicine are very important, especially with new therapeutic methods, the number of which has increased significantly with the Theranostic approach (determining diagnostic-therapeutic pairs where similar molecules are labelled with different isotopes in order to diagnose and treat malignant diseases). Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) has been used successfully for many years to treat neuroendocrine tumors (NET). ⁹⁰Y-DOTATOC is one of the radiopharmaceuticals used frequently in this type of therapy. In this work, blood and urine samples from 13 patients treated with ⁹⁰Y-DOTATOC were measured by a liquid scintillation beta counter (LSC). Calibration of the beta counter for this type of measurement was done and all results are presented in the paper. The presented paper also provides a methodology for determining the measurement uncertainty for this type of measurement. Immediately after the administration of radiopharmaceuticals, the activity in the blood was different from 6.31% to 88.9% of the applied radioactivity, while 3 h after the termination of the application, the average value of radiopharmaceuticals in the blood was only 3.84%. The activity in the excreted urine depended on the time when the patients urinated after the therapy. It was measured that as much as 58% of the applied radioactivity was excreted in the first urine after the therapy in a patient who urinated 4.5 h after the completed application of the therapy. In most patients, the highest urine activity was in the first 10 h after the application, while the activities after that time were negligibly low. The described methodology of measuring and evaluating activity in blood and excreted urine can be applied to other radiopharmaceuticals used in nuclear medicine. It could be useful for researchers for dosimetric assessments in clinical application of PRRT.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권7호
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• pp.2690-2697
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• 2024

With advancements in machine learning technologies, artificial neural networks (ANNs) are being widely used to improve the performance of gamma-ray spectroscopy based on NaI(Tl) scintillation detectors. Typically, the performance of ANNs is evaluated using test datasets composed of actual spectra. However, the generation of such test datasets encompassing a wide range of actual spectra representing various scenarios often proves inefficient and time-consuming. Thus, instead of measuring actual spectra, we generated virtual spectra with diverse spectral features by sampling from categorical distribution functions derived from the base spectra of six radioactive isotopes: ⁵⁴Mn, ⁵⁷Co, ⁶⁰Co, ¹³⁴Cs, ¹³⁷Cs, and ²⁴¹Am. For practical applications, we determined the optimum counting time (OCT) as the point at which the change in the Kullback-Leibler divergence (ΔKLDV) values between the synthetic spectra used for training the ANN and the virtual spectra approaches zero. The accuracies of the actual spectra were significantly improved when measured up to their respective OCTs. The outcomes demonstrated that the proposed method can effectively determine the OCTs for gamma-ray spectroscopy based on ANNs without the need to measure actual spectra.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권9호
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• pp.3872-3883
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• 2024

This study investigates the effects of Zinc (Zn), Manganese (Mn), and Iron (Fe) additions on the microstructure, corrosion behaviour, biocompatibility, mechanical, and gamma-ray shielding properties of Magnesium (Mg) alloys prepared in various compositions using powder metallurgy (PM). The microstructure and mechanical properties of these alloys were analyzed using electron microscopes (SEM and FE-SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. The results showed positive changes in the material's structure when the percentage of zinc added to pure magnesium increased. It was observed that the material became ductile, and the ductile fracture increased when the zinc ratio increased. The gamma-ray shielding properties of newly produced Mg-based alloys have also been discussed since they have a high potential for use in space technologies. Radiation shielding measurements have been performed using a 3" × 3" NaI(Tl) scintillation detector NaI (Tl) gamma-ray spectrometer. The gamma-ray shielding parameters such as the linear attenuation coefficients (μ_l), mass attenuation coefficient (μ_m), effective atomic number (Z_eff), half-value layer (HVL), and tenth-value layer (TVL) have been determined experimentally at photon energies of 0.511 MeV (emitted from a²²Na radioactive point source) and 1.173 MeV and 1.332 MeV (emitting from a⁶⁰Co radioactive point source). The obtained parameters have been compared to the theoretical results of the XCOM software, and a satisfactory agreement has been found. It can be said from the results that the Mg30Zn alloy has the best shielding properties among the produced materials.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권8호
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• pp.3378-3384
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• 2024

Investigations were conducted on the addition of barium's impact on the radiation shielding and physical attributes of five different glasses, designated S1-S5, with varying BaO contents. Using two point sources namely Co⁶⁰ and Cs¹³⁷ along with a scintillation detector [NaI(TL)], experimental measurements were made of the shielding parameters of γ-rays, namely the effective atomic number (Z_eff), electron density (N_el), half-value layer (HVL), linear attenuation coefficient (μ), mass attenuation coefficient (μ_m), mean free path (λ), and radiation protection effectiveness at the energies of 0.664, 1.177, and 1.334 MeV, and comparisons made with recently considered glasses as well as frequently employed materials for γ-ray shielding. The results show that the examined glasses' physical and radiation shielding qualities are improved by the addition of BaO. The μ values increased from 0.245 to 0.275 cm^-1 (0.662 MeV), from 0.174 to 0.198 cm^-1 (1.173 MeV), and from 0.161 to 0.189 (1.332 MeV). The observed values of HVL decreased from 2.83, 3.98, and 4.3 cm to 2.5, 3.5, and 3.62 cm at 0.662, 1.173, and 1.332 MeV, respectively, for the samples S1 and S5. In addition, the S5 glass sample was determined to have the best protection against photon among all the samples that were evaluated, as well as against recently considered glasses and those materials often utilized for gamma-ray shielding purposes.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권9호
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• pp.3558-3565
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• 2024

The linear attenuation coefficients (LAC) of four soils (Black cotton (S1), Sandy (S2), Clay (S3), and Sandy (S4)) samples were measured at photon energies released from radioisotopes Co⁵⁷ (122 keV), Ba¹³³ (356 keV), ²²Na (511 and 1275 keV), Cs¹³⁷ (662 keV), Mn⁵⁴ (840 keV), and Co⁶⁰ (1330 keV) using a gamma spectrometer includes a NaI (Tl) scintillation detector. The experimental measurements were confirmed utilizing the Monte Carlo N-particle transport code. The linear attenuation coefficient values enhanced from 0.256 cm^-1 to 0.296 cm^-1 (at E_γ of 122 keV), from 0.126 cm^-1 to 0.142 cm^-1 (at E_γ of 662 keV), and from 0.0938 cm^-1 to 0.105 cm^-1 (at E_γ of 1275 keV), raising the (Fe + Mn) concentration from 0.912 wt% to 11.214 wt%, as well as raising the soil samples density from 1.62 g/cm³ to 1.79 g/cm³. The study also shows an enhancement in the half value thickness, transmission factor, radiation protection efficiency and lead's equivalent thickness due to the enrichment of Fe + Mn concentrations within the studied soils. The results show that the Black cotton soil exhibits better shielding properties for γ-ray than the other soils.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.35-46
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• 1997

$CO_2$ 흡수제와 액체섬광계수기를 이용하여 간단하고 정밀한 $^{14}C$ 정량법을 개발하였다. 또한, 대기 및 생물시료중 $^3H$ 및 $^{14}C$ 동시포집을 위한 대기시료 포집장치 및 연소장치를 개발하였다. 본 연구에서 개발한 대기중 $CO_2$ 포집장치의 포집율은 73-89%였으며 연소장치의 연소율은 97%를 나타내었다. 측정시료 조제시 흡수제와 섬광체와의 최적 혼합비는 1:1 였으며 측정시료중 $^{14}C$의 비방사능 농도는 시료조제 후 70일까지 변화하지 않고 매우 안정한 상태를 유지하였고 검출하한치는 0.025 Bq/gC로써 자연준위의 $^{14}C$ 분석에도 활용 가능하였다. 또한, 본 분석법에 의한 $^{14}C$ 분석결과는 벤젠합성범에 의한 결과와 ${\pm}6%$ 오차범위 내에서 상호간 잘 일치하였다. 본 연구에서 검토한 방법을 이용하여 1996년 10월 대전지역 대기중 $^{14}C$의 비방사능을 측정한 결과 0.26-0.27 Bq/gC의 범위로써 전형적인 자연준위를 나타내었다. 한편, 월성 원자력발전소로부터 lkm 떨어진 지점에서의 대기중 $^{14}C$C 비방사능은 $0.54{\pm}0.03$ Bq/gC였으며, 솔잎 및 채소류중 $^{14}C$의 비방사능은 각각 0.56-0.67 Bq/gC 및 0.23-1.41 Bq/gC의 농도범위를 나타내었다.

• 한국재료학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국재료학회 2011년도 춘계학술발표대회
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• pp.5-5
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• 2011

The research and development of hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) and electric vehicle (EV) are intensified due to the energy crisis and environmental concerns. In order to meet the challenging requirements of powering HEV, PHEV and EV, the current lithium battery technology needs to be significantly improved in terms of the cost, safety, power and energy density, as well as the calendar and cycle life. One new technology being developed is the utilization of composite cathode by mixing two different types of insertion compounds [e.g., spinel $LiMn_2O_4$ and layered $LiMO_2$ (M=Ni, Co, and Mn)]. Recently, some studies on mixing two different types of cathode materials to make a composite cathode have been reported, which were aimed at reducing cost and improving self-discharge. Numata et al. reported that when stored in a sealed can together with electrolyte at $80^{\circ}C$ for 10 days, the concentrations of both HF and $Mn^{2+}$ were lower in the can containing $LiMn_2O_4$ blended with $LiNi_{0.8}Co_{0.2}O_2$ than that containing $LiMn_2O_4$ only. That reports clearly showed that this blending technique can prevent the decline in capacity caused by cycling or storage at elevated temperatures. However, not much work has been reported on the charge-discharge characteristics and related structural phase transitions for these composite cathodes. In this presentation, we will report our in situ x-ray diffraction studies on this mixed composite cathode material during charge-discharge cycling. The mixed cathodes were incorporated into in situ XRD cells with a Li foil anode, a Celgard separator, and a 1M $LiPF_6$ electrolyte in a 1 : 1 EC : DMC solvent (LP 30 from EM Industries, Inc.). For in situ XRD cell, Mylar windows were used as has been described in detail elsewhere. All of these in situ XRD spectra were collected on beam line X18A at National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at Brookhaven National Laboratory using two different detectors. One is a conventional scintillation detector with data collection at 0.02 degree in two theta angle for each step. The other is a wide angle position sensitive detector (PSD). The wavelengths used were 1.1950 ${\AA}$ for the scintillation detector and 0.9999 A for the PSD. The newly installed PSD at beam line X18A of NSLS can collect XRD patterns as short as a few minutes covering $90^{\circ}$ of two theta angles simultaneously with good signal to noise ratio. It significantly reduced the data collection time for each scan, giving us a great advantage in studying the phase transition in real time. The two theta angles of all the XRD spectra presented in this paper have been recalculated and converted to corresponding angles for ${\lambda}=1.54\;{\AA}$, which is the wavelength of conventional x-ray tube source with Cu-$k{\alpha}$ radiation, for easy comparison with data in other literatures. The structural changes of the composite cathode made by mixing spinel $LiMn_2O_4$ and layered $Li-Ni_{1/3}Co_{1/3}Mn_{1/3}O_2$ in 1 : 1 wt% in both Li-half and Li-ion cells during charge/discharge are studied by in situ XRD. During the first charge up to ~5.2 V vs. $Li/Li^+$, the in situ XRD spectra for the composite cathode in the Li-half cell track the structural changes of each component. At the early stage of charge, the lithium extraction takes place in the $LiNi_{1/3}Co_{1/3}Mn_{1/3}O_2$ component only. When the cell voltage reaches at ~4.0 V vs. $Li/Li^+$, lithium extraction from the spinel $LiMn_2O_4$ component starts and becomes the major contributor for the cell capacity due to the higher rate capability of $LiMn_2O_4$. When the voltage passed 4.3 V, the major structural changes are from the $LiNi_{1/3}Co_{1/3}Mn_{1/3}O_2$ component, while the $LiMn_2O_4$ component is almost unchanged. In the Li-ion cell using a MCMB anode and a composite cathode cycled between 2.5 V and 4.2 V, the structural changes are dominated by the spinel $LiMn_2O_4$ component, with much less changes in the layered $LiNi_{1/3}Co_{1/3}Mn_{1/3}O_2$ component, comparing with the Li-half cell results. These results give us valuable information about the structural changes relating to the contributions of each individual component to the cell capacity at certain charge/discharge state, which are helpful in designing and optimizing the composite cathode using spinel- and layered-type materials for Li-ion battery research. More detailed discussion will be presented at the meeting.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.13-20
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• 2008

석유 및 정유관련 산업에서 다중상(multi-phase flow) 유체의 배관 내 흐름은 일반적인 현상의 하나이다. 그러나 각각의 상에 대한 정확한 유량측정은 항상 정확한 결과획득을 얻는데 장애의 근원으로 작용하였다. 일반 상업용 유량계는 일정 이상의 기포가 포함된 유체 흐름의 경우 유량계측에 상당한 오차를 유발한다. 본 연구에서는 ${\gamma}$-ray attenuation 기법을 이용하여 clamp-on 타입으로 배관 외부에서 다중상 유체흐름의 유량 측정을 수행하였다. 사용된 밀봉 감마선원으로는 $^{137}Cs$ 20 mCi와 17 mCi 두 개의 동위원소를 사용하였으며, 감마선 검출기로는 $2"{\times}2"$ NaI(Tl) 섬광계수관을 이용하였다. 방사선 검출기로부터 데이터를 수집하고 각각의 데이터에 대해 푸리에 변환과 필터링을 통해 노이즈를 최소화하였다. 복원된 신호에 대해 상호상관함수(cross correlation function)를 적용하여 두 검출기 사이의 통과시간(transit time)을 측정함으로써 유량을 산정하였다. 배관 내 기포함량 측정을 통해 유량을 보정해줌으로써 측정유량의 정확도를 높였다. 두 선원간의 거리가 4D(D; inner diameter) 그리고 본 실험의 측정조건(N/S: $0.12{\sim}0.15$, sampling time ${\Delta}\;t$: 4msec) 하에서 기포량(단면적 대비 $6.1\;%{\sim}9.2\;%$) 보정을 통해 산정된 유량은 계측오차가 실제 평균유량 대비 1.7 % 이하인 정확도를 보였다. 또한 두 밀봉 감마선원 간의 거리가 가까울수록 통과시간 측정에 정확도가 향상되므로 보다 정확한 유량측정이 가능하였다. 본 연구를 통해 다중상 혼합유체의 유량을 밀봉감마선원과 상호상관 기법으로 이용하여 계측할 수 있음을 확인하였다. 방사성동위원소의 선택 및 계측시스템의 최적화 조건 등에 대한 추가연구가 수행된다면 석유화학 산업과 같은 장치산업의 유지관리 측면에 경제적으로 크게 기여할 수 있을 것으로 판단된다.

• 한국방사선학회논문지
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• 제8권6호
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• pp.287-292
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• 2014

본 연구는 자연 속에 미량(존재비: 0.012 %)으로 존재하는 $^{180}Ta$의 중성자포획 공명에 대하여 포획단면적의 계산치와 측정치를 비교하여 분석하였다. 일반적으로 중성자 공명은 Breit-Wigner식으로 정의되며, 식에는 공명에너지를 중심으로 공명의 폭을 결정하는 다양한 인자들로 구성되어 있다. 그러나 $^{180}Ta$의 경우 중성자포획단면적과 공명에 대한 정보가 잘 알려져 있지 않고 실험적으로도 측정되어진 예가 현재까지는 없는 것이 현실이다. 따라서 본 실험에서는 천연 Ta속에 포함되어진 $^{180}Ta$에 의한 중성자 포획에 의해 발생되는 감마선을 관측하여 $^{180}Ta$의 공명을 분석하고 Mughabghab에 의해서 계산되어진 공명인자를 사용하여 1 eV이하의 에너지에 대한 중성자포획단면적을 계산하고 비교분석하였다. 측정을 위해서 교토대학원자로 실험소의 46-MeV 전자선형가속기를 이용하여 중성자 TOF 방법으로, 에너지 영역 0.003 eV에서 10 eV에 걸쳐 측정하였다. 측정을 위해서는 12개의 $Bi_4Ge_3O_{12}(BGO)$섬광체로 구성된 전에너지 흡수검출장치로 $^{180}Ta(n,{\gamma})^{181}Ta$ 반응으로부터 나오는 즉발감마선을 측정하였다.

• 대한핵의학회지
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.1-12
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• 1973

The most commonly used methods for determining thyroxine binding globulin(TBG) concentration as the total thyroxine-binding capacity utilize electrophoretic seperation of serum. Although technically simple, the electrophoretic method is time consuming and is limited in the number of samples which can be run in a single assay. The author presented a single $T_4$ load ion exchange resin method as an approach to simplify the technique as with clinical practicability and results were analyzed. For construction of the standard curves, serum mixtures were diluted with barbital buffer.which effectively blocked $T_4$-binding to TBPA. For each serum dilution, a constant amount of $T_4-^{125}I$ and increments of unlabelled $T_4$ were added. After incubation in water bath, resin beads were dispensed to the samples which binded all $T_4$ not bound to TBG. The radioactivity in the supernatant was counted in the gamma scintillation counter. Each standard curve was plotted from the percent counts in the supernatant and total $T_4$ in each tube. Unknown samples were diluted to 1:40 and ran at a single $T_4$ loading concentration, and the TBG capacity of the samples was able to be read on the standard isobars. The following results were obtained. 1) Mean and standard deviation for TBG capacity in normal population was $28.6{\pm}5.09{\mu}g\;T_4/100ml$. 2) $24.9{\pm}3.87{\mu}g\;T_4/100ml$ in hyperthyroidism showed low TBG capacity comparing to normal population.(p<0.025) 3) $31.0{\pm}2.40{\mu}g\;T_4/100ml$ in hypothyroidism showed high TBG capacity tendency comparing to normal population. 4) Reversed correlationship existed between TBG capacity and $T_3$ resin uptake(r=-0.624), TBG capacity and serum $T_4$ value (r=-0.859), and TBG capacity and free thyroxine index(r=-0.623). The author assumes that this method of assay is considerably simpler in instrumentation and technique than any other assays traditionally being used, and seems to be more practical for routine clinical laboratory use.